The beginning of the 2024 legislative session in the Senate has been nothing short of an embarrassment. A chamber designed to be occupied with civil, principled statesmen and women has been overtaken by a small group of self-interested career politicians, who all too often, remind me more of my children than my colleagues.
Missourians have demanded more of us. They have demanded progress, civility, and the passage of policies that will provide better schools, a stronger economy, and safer communities around this state. Instead, the Chaos Caucus has chosen to use the Missouri Senate as a place to try and salvage their languishing statewide campaigns and intentionally destroy the institution in an effort to claim the game is rigged against them. They are willing to kill important conservative priorities like IP reform, education reform, and banning China from owning our farmland, simply so they can continue to receive a paycheck from taxpayers.
As the leader of the Missouri Senate, and with the full support of the True Republican Majority, we will no longer allow this to stand.
Today, I have made the following changes to our Missouri Senate committee structure:
— The removal of Senator Denny Hoskins as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Tax
Policy.
— The naming of Senator Ben Brown as Chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Tax
Policy.
— The removal of Senator Denny Hoskins from the Senate Appropriations Committee.
— The removal of Senator Andrew Koenig as Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.
— The removal of Senator Rick Brattin as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce
Development.
— The naming of Senator Curtis Trent as Chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development.
— The establishment of the Select Committee on Empowering Missouri Parents and Children with
Senator Curtis Trent as Chair.
— The removal of Senator Bill Eigel as Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and
Pensions.
— The naming of Senator Rusty Black as Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and
Pensions.
— The removal of Senator Rick Brattin as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and
Pensions.
— The naming of Senator Elaine Gannon as Vice-Chair of the Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs,
and Pensions.
— The removal of Senator Rick Brattin as Chair of the Select Committee on the Protection of Missouri
Assets From Foreign Adversaries.
— The naming of Senator Mike Bernskoetter as Chair and Senator Rusty Black as Vice-Chair of the Select
Committee on the Protection of Missouri Assets From Foreign Adversaries.
These are not actions taken lightly, but it is clear they are both timely and necessary.
I will continue to work with anyone interested in advancing a strong, family-supporting, conservative agenda while respecting our institution and its members. If the members impacted by today’s actions want concrete, conservative progress, they can still have it.
The True Republican majority stands ready to get to work to move our shared priorities — education reform, tort reform, IP reform, tax cuts, public safety, and so much more. All of these policies are attainable. But it will only come if the Chaos Caucus makes an intentional decision to start working with their colleagues instead of taking their marching orders from their puppetmasters in Virginia.
Let’s get to work.
